Hull concedes he took cocaine in early '80s

In GOP race, Ryan alleges `smear'

March 11, 2004|By John Chase and John McCormick, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporters Liam Ford, David Mendell and H. Gregory Meyer contributed to this report.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Blair Hull acknowledged Wednesday he used cocaine and marijuana until the early 1980s and had twice sought evaluation for alcohol abuse.

Meanwhile, the Republican Senate contest veered sharply away from issues and toward the gutter as frontrunner Jack Ryan claimed to be the victim of a "smear campaign" after rival John Borling shopped vague statements about being privy to embarrassing information regarding Ryan's 1999 divorce.

With only days remaining until Tuesday's primary, character issues took center stage as candidates struggled to cut down rivals and raise doubts about opponents' electability in the fall.

Hull held the lead in public opinion polls in the Democratic contest only weeks ago until his campaign was damaged over recent disclosures that he was accused of verbally and physically abusing an ex-wife during a 1998 divorce.

After a televised forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Hull was asked if he had any chemical dependency issues. The 61-year-old multimillionaire said he had not used illegal drugs in a "substantial amount of time" and said it occurred during what he called a "young and foolish" phase of his life 20 years ago.

Later, he said he used cocaine "occasionally" but stopped in the early 1980s, the same time he also said he stopped smoking marijuana. A few years before that, Hull said, he had sought treatment for alcoholism. In 1985, he said, he sought a second round of alcohol abuse treatment, adding that doctors concluded at the time he did not have a drinking problem.

"It became clear that I was not an alcoholic, but I'm glad I did" seek treatment, said Hull, who added that he now drinks socially. He said he was motivated to seek treatment both times because of undesired weight gain.

"This was 20 years ago," he said. "If it hasn't been done in a long time, it doesn't apply to how one is going to function in the Senate."

Questions about substance use by Hull and others were prompted by revelations in a 1996 autobiography written by current Democratic Senate frontrunner Barack Obama, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance." In his book, Obama, a state senator from Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, acknowledged use of marijuana and cocaine as a teenager. Candidates Dan Hynes, Illinois comptroller, and attorney Gery Chico both acknowledged they had smoked marijuana in college.

During the debate, aired on WLS-TV, Hynes tried to link Obama to the freewheeling spending of indicted former Gov. George Ryan's Republican administration.

"He stayed silent," Hynes charged. "He didn't do anything."

After the debate, Obama shot back, saying Hynes did nothing in his position to curb state spending under Ryan. "He signed off on every single one of these budgets," Obama said.

As the Democratic race focused on drugs and money, the Republican campaign became mired in mud as Borling raised the issue of sealed portions of Jack Ryan's divorce file.

In a statement Borling offered, unsolicited, to reporters, he claimed to have come to know details of things in the sealed files that could jeopardize Ryan's electability if they became public.

Then, saying he found "this matter distasteful," Borling declined to elaborate on what he was suggesting.

Portions of the court record of Ryan's divorce from actress Jeri Ryan have been sealed and the two have refused to release them despite demands from rivals in the Senate race, contending they want to keep the details private to protect their son, 9.

A California judge in the case once declared that Ryan's request to seal the files was motivated by his desire to keep potentially embarrassing information in them from harming his political aspirations.

In addition to Borling's declaration, his campaign manager in recent days has been calling leading state Republicans to try to scare them about the prospect of a Ryan victory on Tuesday, suggesting the divorce issue could blow up and cost the party a Senate seat if Ryan is the nominee.

But Ryan tried to counter with a statewide automated phone message in which he encouraged voters to "ignore these false attacks."

"Our opponents and the Democrats have started an unprecedented smear campaign aimed at Jack Ryan and his family," the phone message says.

While Ryan was working to fight off questions of his character, his conservative credentials were being slammed by another rival, Jim Oberweis, who used a mailing to Republican voters to challenge Ryan's positions on social issues.

Moreover, Oberweis attempted to raise questions about Ryan's moral fiber as he claimed that Ryan provided money to Jeri Ryan to produce an unrated 1997 movie called "Men Cry Bullets" that Oberweis claimed is billed with the phrase: "Sexual depravity has never been this much fun."

"I think there is some question as to the judgment used on his behalf financing that film, being involved in that film," Oberweis said.

Ryan has said he had nothing to do with financing the film and only gave his then-wife money to set up a tax shelter, which she then used to pay herself while making the movie.